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Djerba Explore Park

Djerba, Tunisia

Djerba Explore Park

The Djerba Explore Park is in the heart of the tourist area of ​​Midoun, at the foot of the Taguermess lighthouse. Easy access and fast, the park is located less than ten minutes from the main hotels of the island of Djerba and about twenty kilometers from the airport and the city of Houmt Souk.

The Djerba Explore Park is divided into five modules: the village with its streets and squares where you can freely access and enjoy the many areas of relaxation and recreation through the many shops, three cafes and three restaurants. The following three modules are the fee-paying visiting areas with the Lalla Hadria Museum, Heritage and Crocodile Farm. Finally a fifth module developed apart including a hotel organized as a charming residence.

Lalla Hadhria Museum: The impressive and unprecedented collection of more than 1000 pieces, the richest of its kind in the country, demonstrates the influence exercised by the Islamic art of the Mediterranean Basin on the borders of Asia. Masterpieces of calligraphy and miniature, manifestations of the sacred, precious jewels and ancient doors, ceramics and pottery have been collected with passion throughout the world. Two major sections: one devoted to all Arab-Islamic cultures and the other to the Arts of Tunisia. Through the fifteen rooms or galleries soberly arranged, we admire among others the glossy tiles of Kachan, the parchment of the Koran of Kairouan, the fragments of the hangings of the Kaaba and the silver and silk banners of the mystical brotherhoods, enamelled pottery from Tunisia and the superb collection of Tunisian jewels and costumes.

The crocodile farm: An imposing fort evoking the architecture of the desert marks the entrance to the animal park. It is with the sound of African music that we let ourselves be guided to the pools and tropical greenhouse where swim - or rather lazy in the sun - 400 crocodiles of the Nile, brought back from Madagascar. The Nile crocodile is one of the largest species of crocodilian, it can reach, for some males, up to 7 meters for a weight of nearly a ton. Its morphology makes it one of the most formidable species.

Heritage Djerbian: The Houch: The house, called houch Djerba, looking like a small fortress, has an architecture closed on the outside. In this construction, modest at first and strangely beautiful in its simplicity, the rooms are arranged around the inner courtyard. The kitchen is separated for health and safety reasons. In the bedrooms, the bed finds its place in an alcove, the doukhana. The openings are designed to optimize the interior temperature, the vaults and cupolas of the roofs promote freshness. Large jars placed under the gargoyles make it possible to collect rainwater for domestic use. The furniture is poorly furnished. In more luxurious homes, the Ottoman influence is felt: the decor is more sought after and colors more present. In Djerba Heritage, you will discover all these traditional construction techniques perfectly adapted to the lifestyle of the island.

Djerbian heritage: the underground oil mill: The Djerbians already exported olive oil to the Roman era. Oil mills or maasara, with their very recognizable architecture, were built underground to maintain a suitable ambient temperature for the manufacture of the oil, the harvests being done in winter. We came to the oil mill to deposit its crop of olives that we dumped from the outside through openings. The olives were crushed by stone grinders, driven by donkeys or dromedaries, the paste obtained was then put in scourtins alfa (kind of slabs) that was placed in the press. The oil obtained, first pressure, is collected in jars. Each one left then with his harvest which was used for his personal consumption. The last underground oil mill in Djerba closed its doors a few years ago.

Heritage Djerbian pottery workshop: The art of pottery was introduced in Tunisia by the Phoenicians. And the potters of Djerba, and more particularly of Guellala, are at the origin of the turned pottery, made in half-buried workshops in this region with clay soil. Of the 400 potteries that truffled the region, there are only twenty left. The faithful reconstruction of the underground workshop of Djerba Heritage makes us penetrate into a world of shapes and colors: the giant jars that were used to store foodstuffs, enamelled objects with characteristic colors unfold in a diffuse light on a ground floor . The clay takes shape under the fingers of the potter who cooks his creations in the adjacent oven, fed with palm branches.

Djerbian heritage: the weaving workshop: The reputation of the woven wool in Djerba has gone beyond the borders of the country.

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